lowest sharpening angle

[dieselpusher6262]

what would be the lowest angle recommended for elmax steel. i have a zt 551 that i have already taken down to 15 degrees and was wondering if i could go lower and if so how much. i edc a zt 300 and the 551, so any hard use is handled by the the 300, so the 551 wouldnt be abused at all. thanks for the input. oh also if anyone happens to know when the accessory for the wicked edge that allows sharpening below 15 degrees comes out i would love to know.

 

[Ankerson]

That's a production blade at 60 HRC so around 15 degrees per side is fine, that blade is pretty thick on that model so going lower would be removing a lot of steel unless you had the blade reground thin.

If you take that blade below 15 degrees per side the edge bevel will be huge.

In a custom with a thinner blade at higher hardness around 62 HRC it can be taken a lot lower without a problem.

 

[dieselpusher6262]

yeah at 15 right now the bevel is pretty big. while i am thinking about it any recommendations on a folder that is thinner with a steel i can take down real far. something that would be super sharp and quite the slicer. most of the knifes i seem to like are heavy duty. i just ordered the manix 2 but as it turns out that too is sounding like a pretty hefty knife.

 

[Ankerson]

yeah at 15 right now the bevel is pretty big. while i am thinking about it any recommendations on a folder that is thinner with a steel i can take down real far. something that would be super sharp and quite the slicer. most of the knifes i seem to like are heavy duty. i just ordered the manix 2 but as it turns out that too is sounding like a pretty hefty knife.

I would look into regrinds if you want some thing thin.

PM RichardJ and see if he is still doing them, if so he could thin that blade out a lot for you.

With a thin blade you don't have to go lower than 15 per side.

I don't care how low you get the edge angle, it still won't cut as well as a blade that has been thinned out.....